News Byte: Google Chief Slams NSA for Peeping

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said that, if true, allegations that the National Security Agency had breached the security of data centers owned by his company and others are “outrageous.” He made the assertion in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, adding that “it's perfectly possible there are more revelations to come.”

Schmidt said his company promptly registered complaints with the NSA, President Barack Obama, and several members of Congress. In a statement issued after the revelations last week, the NSA fired back that it “conducts all of its activities in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies—and assertions to the contrary do a grave disservice to the nation.”

During a 30-day period at the end of 2012, NSA field collectors allegedly processed more than 181 million records showing who sent or received emails and when, as well as users' access of text, audio, and video, according to a report sourcing top secret documents published in The Washington Post.

But marketers' efforts may not be directly impacted by such breaches, say privacy experts. “The way consumers will be affected by this is if their services are affected by some reaction on the part of Google or Yahoo,” Joe Lorenzo Hall, senior staff technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, toldDirect Marketing News.

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